Šarlo Akrobata(Charlot the Acrobat, a Serbo-Croatian version of Charlie Chaplin‘s name) were a seminal Yugoslavpost-punk band from Belgrade. Short-lived but extremely influential, being one of the most important acts of the Yugoslav new wave movement (Novi Talas). The power-trio left an indelible mark on the entire music scene, playing skeletal, energetic ska-core with a post-punk sound reminding of Gang of Four, XTC, The Stranglers, Public Image Limited and Frank Zappa!

If you want to know a little more about the rock development in Serbia and former Yugoslavia, pay a visit on our last entries, Katarina II and Discipline Kičme.

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The origin of the new wave scene in Serbia can be found in Belgrade late-70’s bands Zvuk Ulice, Limunovo Drvo and Hipnotisano Pile. These three featured the future members of milestone groups Idoli, Šarlo AkrobataandElektrični Orgazam.

Električni Orgazam

Guitarists Milan Mladenović and Dragomir Mihajlović performed hard rock for two years in Limunovo Drvo, before adopting the punk rock on the arrival of the bassist Dušan Kojić ‘Koja’ and drummer Ivan Vdović ‘VD’. After the departure of Mihajlović (who would play on Katarina II), they finally renamed to Šarlo Akrobata!

Over 1980-81,its first recordings were released on the compilation Paket Aranžman, today considered one of the most prominent Serbian/Yugoslav rock releases. After a second prize on Subotica Youth Fest and performance on Zagreb Bienalle, they recorded their only album, Bistriji Ili Tuplji Covek Biva Kad…(Brighter or Dumber a Man Gets When…) in April 1981, combining punkish energy with dissonant, avant-garde, and a daring approach both to the playing, recording and performance.

Milan, Koja & Ivan = Šarlo Akrobata

The band disbanded in the winter of 1981 after a tour in Poland; Milan Mladenovic started a successful and prolific group Ekatarina Velika, and Dusan Kojic formed the progressive punk act Discipline Kičme.The the alleged reason was different views on how to continue their musical expression; around 1982, the New Wave scenestarted to decline, asa large number of acts moved towards a more commercial sound.

During the 80’s, Đorđe Balašević, for instance, dominated the mainstream pop scene, but various other rock genres also emerged, such as Jakarta, Oktobar 1864, Beograd, La Strada, Zana and Rambo Amadeus, starting to develop and gain mainstream popularity, not only in Yoguslavia, but all around Eastern Europe!

Pekinška Patkathe, the first Orthodox punk rock band, 1978!

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An unique punk record, full of furious guitar riffs, raw bass sound, and wild shouting! Lyrics are either nonsensical, randomly recited, either rebellious, a true example of a punk angst, either minimalistic representing an auditivegraffiti painting. (!)

This is a record full of studio tricks that are deconstructing a classical approach to the songwriting, gradually (or abruptly) adding/subtracting instrumental layers in the songs, repeating simple one-two-three-four chorus ad nauseam, making at mantra at first, and then deconstructing it by simply adding polyrhythmical pattern on bass, while drums get heavily processed with an echo effect and other modulations.

1981

Lastly, this record is a lot different from everything that we used to hear so far, avant punk are the perfect title to add to these crazy geniuses, forget about Ekatarina Velika (my personal favorite) and other Serbian entries, this is where it all began, observe closely and plunge forward into it, the one and only Šarlo Akrobata!

Hello people! Last Wednesday (08/10) a novelty happened and we would like to share with everyone, Gary Sullivan, our friend from Bodega Pop made ​​a radio-webcast program of 3 hours, highlighting the qualities of the Interstellar Medium, along with an extensive tracklist. We wanted to thank Gary and each one who participated and supported during the transmission, the link for you to hear the show is available here.

This was an important step to our history, we ALWAYS count on your opinion! And for those who haven’t yet been familiarized with the page or arrived just now, there’s the About to give you some directions, without further ado let’s get to our entry!

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Ferdi Özbeğen Orkestrası, 60’s

The Turkish Rock movement is believed to have began in the late-50’s with the arrival of The Shadows and developed further during the next decade with the increasing popularity of Western music acts. With coming of The Beatles, small bands sprung up everywhere, this triggered the national newspaper Hΰrriyet to organize a national talent contest under the title Altin Mikrofon (golden mic).

In the 60’s, the youth especially living in big cities were very receptive to new pop music coming from abroad but understandably they also were far from the social impact that this music brought, or we may say a middle-class minority who knew English were aware. Meanwhile, there was an unrest amongst young people which translated into a exciting political climate, not fed by rock music exclusively.

Arda Uskan, John & Yoko, Erkin Koray

Of all the musical/cultural scenes that happened along the 60’s, psychedelia was the most effective one in Turkey; it started one year later than USA and Europe but lasted much longer, this music brought a new dimension to Turkish listeners, while the rest of the nation were happy with its oriental overtones, the Turkish music fans found that it was what they felt inside really! So psychedelia influence was at a much different scope than it had on other countries, by 1969 all codes on the birth of a big rock music scene was set and Turkish rock had five more years of prolific kingdom.

After 1975-76, the scene took its toll with changing political, musical and social climates and before 1979 came it was all over (!). The golden age of Anadolu Rock was marked by artists famous until today, such as Baris Manço, Cem Karaca, Edip Ackbyram, Ersen. Bands like Mogallar, 3 Hurel, Erkin Koray andSelda Bagcan.

Baris Manço’s Cockade

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Mustafa Özkentwas a lesser-known but significant figure on the Ankara music scene until his music belatedly found a receptive audience in the West four decades after!

A talented guitarist who was known to modify the design of his instruments to create unusual tonal qualities, he earned a reputation as a gifted maverick and by the dawn of the 70’s was in demand as a session player, arranger, and producer, creating music that fused psychedelic, pop and soul influences with jazz-likeimprovisations.

Mustafa Özkent

In 1972, he partnered with Evren Records, a Turkish label known for its audiophile recording techniques, Ozkent booked time at Istanbul’s finest recording facilities, and with a mighty team of musicians he began recording new material dominated by extended percussion jams, hard-grooving organ lines, and funky wah-wah guitars.

The resultant Lp, Genclikle Elele(Hand in Hand with Youth), sounded as if it were designed for hip-hopDJs in search of funky breaks even though it was cut years before the South Bronx scene began to flower! The British Finders Keepers label reissued its masterpiece in 2006, heremains active in Turkey, releasing Dijital Guitar in 2005!

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Cem Karaca’s Article

Mustafa went on to invent specially treated guitars with additional frets enabling him to replicate unique notes similar to a saz or lute allowing the musician to emulate the sound of Hendrix’s style wah-wah and fuzz while retaining the versatility of the traditional Eastern sensibilities which ran through many young Istanbul’s veins.

Unlike Zafer Dilek’s entry and its adapted Belly Dance, this time the Turkish folklore really receives a spicy electric treatment, the groove are so infectious that I really doubted it could have come from Turkey. I simply won’t say much about this masterpiece, an instrumental album like Gençlik Ile Elele is virtually unattainable!

San Ul Lim aka Sanulrim, is a South Korean power triocombo, the name is the combination of words, San (산, mountain) and Ullim (울림, echo). The band is considered one of the most influential figures in the Korean Rock scene, its musical experiments varied from songs for children to progressive and psychedelic rock.

They broke up after the death of the drummer, Kim Chang-ik (김창익), in 2008 (RIP). Upon its release in 1977, their first LP sold over a half-million copies and paved the way for many further volumes. The songs are full of fuzz guitar, tinny keyboards, unique timbres and simple production, reminding one of the American garage and pop-psychedelic groups from the 60’s, but with a very special Asian flavor. (!)

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The three members of San Ul Lim are brothers, they were Kim Chang-wan (김창완, 1954-), Kim Chang-hoon (김창훈, 1956-), and Kim Chang-ik (김창익, 1958-2008).

San Ul Lim, 70’s

The band, formed when the three were university students, was initially called Mui and was never meant to be professional. Kim Chang-hoon’s other college band, named Sand Pebbles, won the MBC College K-pop Festival with their song, What Shall I Do?;Mui was initially nominated to win with their song, Please Open the Door but wasn’t qualified because Chang-wan had already graduated from the university.

Gaining confidence, the band looked for a music agency, changing the name into San Ul Lim by their new manager’s demand. At first, they recorded a demo tape, the brothers had already over one hundred songs written before its debut, to then finally arrive at SRB label. Willing to sound like AC/DC heavy guitars, they’ve stumbled into insufficient technological know-how, thus, only depending on psychedelic ad lib or fuzz guitar, this ironically made their sound unique, founding a longlastingstamp!

Live

Their first album entitled Vol.1아니벌써(What, Already?) came out in December 1977, the Lp largely impacted the Korean music scene, becoming both critically and commercially successful, revealing a new type of music which Koreans had never heard before, people were totally absorbed with the psychedelic/hard rock sound.

San Ul Lim’s stellar appearance was much significant because they vitalized the Korean popular music scene, that was currently devastated after several musicians were charged and arrested for marijuana possession. The dictatorialgovernment of Park Chung-hee leaded mass boycotts on pop/rock music around 1975. (!)

During 1977-1984, they released more than 10 albums, ending in the middle of the disco boom (a bit late in South Korea) in 1984. With the K-pop retrospective revival during the 90’s, all of their Lp’s were reissued and a tribute album was released.

K-Rock Portrait

They performed in Seoul on July 5th, 2007 for their 30th anniversary and planned to release a vol. 14 album within the same year, unfortunately, on January 29, 2008, drummer Kim Chang-ik was killed in a work-related accident in Vancouver, Canada. Ever since, Kim Chang-wan announced the end of the band, though he recently reformed it and occasionally plays with another formation. He also has been actively performing as a musician, painter, actor, writer and broadcast celebrity!

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Today we’ve got very special album, of an extremelyimportant band! Still unknown to large Western audiences, (still expecting an official re-release of their albums), but thanks to the blogosphere work from Gold Korea Vinyl(for instance), the Vol. 1 and 2 can be easily heard on youtube, soundcloud, etc. Here, let’s go a little further.

Last Revival

Together with Vol. 3 this Vol. 5 are my favorite, even if the compositions seem a bit naive in terms of harmony and arrangements, this power trio REALLY understands about colors and effects, maximizing the (holy) punk aesthetic of less is more.

There’s a previously unseen disco offshoot here, San Ul Lim’s vision and concept of it are quite unique, embracing multiple passages and genres. Lastly, Arirang’scool series of documentaries, are available with legends in english, scrutinizing every detail of the rock development in the country, with an exclusively chapter on the band, its history and idol status. Needless to say more, check it outandການເດີນທາງທີ່ດີ!

Another brief entry, as we previously talked about Léonie and its (surprising) short career, based on 45singles, started in the late-60’s amidst the french yé-yé scene. The dossier from this unknown singer can be checked in Hero Culte blog, don’t miss out the detective work from tinynoggin and other curiosities about French stars!

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This time, she is backed up with the mighty arrangements/compositions by the number one french maestroJean Claude Vannier. Léonie’s peculiarsensual voice stands out on its 5th release, she knows how to be pop and cult simultaneously.

A side has a characteristic (slower) charleston piano/xylophone pace, playedby Vannier, along with strings andwizardry guitars in a vintage delicate atmosphere.

B side are my favorite, this fuzzy psych ballad has a magic cadency that sticks to the head, an example of how you can be pop without neglecting good aesthetic choices!

Léonie (Martine Collet)

I really would like to count on better quality rips, but the fact is none of her singles were duly re-released on CD, this and other entries are a good invitation to meet the B-side on what is called Pop Jerk, somewhat ahead from the naive (early) works of France Gall,Sylvie Vartan, Céline, Françoise Hardy, Séverine, and many others.

We’ll leave for an upcoming entry, more details about the yé-yéscene and its powerful independent girls, for now, keep it up with this lovely obscure pearl.

Composer, lyricist/singer Pavlos Sidiropoulos(July 27, 1948 – December 6, 1990), only lived until the age of 42, though he left behind a remarkable musical legacy and influence amongst young artists. He was the great grandson of Zorba, nephew of the poet Elli Alexiou and since his early age showed a musical aptitude. A truly legend, despite the few musical releases in life, the today’s entry is simply considered as the most important rock album of all time in Greece! Fortunately, there’s plenty of information(in greek) available about Pavlos, your site/tribute, deserves a lookout!

Over time other albums will come and we’ll try to bring more details about the life of this fabulous artist, we count on to help from our Greek friends, rest in peacePavlos.

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Mural

Sidiropoulos began his career in 1970 in Thessaloniki, where he was studying maths in Aristotle University. Together with Pantelis Delleyannidis they set up the folk-duo Damon and Phintias; though does not graduating he returns to Athens, disappointed with the revolutionary youth, there he worked to his father’sfactory. He soon met, at Kittaro’s, Dionysis Savvopoulos and his group Bourboulia, he joined the band and released the 45 release Damis The Tough (Ντάμης ο σκληρός) in 1972. There, he stayed until 1974, and therefore first experimented with combining folklore and rock.

Afterward Sidiropoulos collaborated with the Greek composer Yannis Markopoulos, singing his compositions with lyrics by the poet Dimitris Varos. In 1976, together with Spiropoulos brothers, he founded the music group Spiridoula. It took three years for their first release, the cornerstone album Flou, with the homonymous theme song that inspired many musicians, opening a completely different path to Greek audience!

Pavlos Sidiropoulos & Spyridoula

At 1975, he made its two film appearances. He had the leading role in the film (and OST)O Asymvivastos, directed by Andreas Thomopoulos, at the same time, he starred with Dimitris Poulikakosanother movie by Thomopoulos, Aldevaran.

Sidiropoulos joined the band Οι Απροσάρμοστοι (The Misfits), in 1980 where he remained until his death. They released 3 studio albums and numerous live performances. En Lef̱kó̱ was published in 82′, and many of the songs were censored!

Παύλος Σιδηρόπουλος

In 1985, Zorba the Freak came out and in 1989 they released (their lastly) Without Make-up, which was recorded live at Metro club in Athens. In the summer of 1990 and after his mother’s death, his left hand started getting paralyzed, as a result of his long term drug use that he was trying to overcome for many years. He continued his live performances but the deterioration of his health had serious implications. On December 6, 1990 he died from heart attack, caused by heroin overdose. (RIP)

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Considered by many the most important album in Greek rock music, i was completely surprised first time i heard him a and it touched me really deep!

CC

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Bhagavata Purana (9th / 10th Century)

"While Dhruva Maharaja was passing through space, he saw, in succession, all the planets of the solar system, and on the path he saw all the demigods in their vimanas showering flowers upon him like rain...
He traveled in that way through the various planets, as the air passes freely in every direction. Coursing through the air in that grand and splendid vimana, which could fly at will, he surpassed even the Devas."